1,056 Pages of Non-Stop Fun

In honor of Earth Day, I’m going to share a “reduce, reuse, and recycle” idea I stumbled upon a month or so ago…and it’s still a big hit!

We’ve always recycled here. Yes, we pay for this service. Yes, it was very limited when we started. Yes, it’s hard to keep track of the every-other week schedule. Yes, it’s worth it. Honestly, green has never been a favorite color of mine, but something that helps the earth is a good thing, and we’re trying to do our part. I mean, come on…we live here.

A few months ago, our waste management company expanded their recycling program to include a lot more numbers of plastics, magazines and phone books, in addition to the typical glass, metal, paper and plastic! And? You don’t have to keep them separate anymore!! Yes!! And, as organized as I am, you’d think I’d have the “Recycling Weeks” memorized. I don’t. I missed the last one. It’s totally my fault. Granted, my hubby didn’t remember either, but his job is to go to a “real” job, and I’m supposed to remember what week is Recycling Week. So, now because we have so much recycling to go out on the curb, it’s threatening to take over the garage…and our lives!

(Picture that last part as being said in a loud, booming voice. Sorry to be so dramatic, but I don’t think you realize how much recycling we have. Missing a week with the new and expanded list of eligible items is a critical error. Excuse me while I put the Recycling Weeks into my computer calendar. Carry on.)

My hubby says the countdown when he leaves for the day. “T-minus Three Days!” he calls from the stairs. “Dude, I’m putting it out on Wednesday night!” is my answer…and it has been on my mind for the last two weeks. Forget trying to beat the truck on Thursday morning. It’s going to take me three days to haul it all to the curb.

So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, they’re finally taking phone books! We’ve been collecting them for ages, and to be honest, I don’t remember the last time I used a paper phone book. For real. It’s been years. We’re an online family, and with a 24/7 network, any phone number is a click away. Well, what would we do if the electricity went out? We’d have bigger problems than trying to find a number, that’s for sure. But, we’d manage without a paper phone book.

One day, Claire was begging for something new to do. I’d just tripped over the phone book that had mysteriously made it into my office, and I hadn’t taken it down to the green tub yet. I noticed that Claire’s colors were still sitting on my desk from when we made Thank You notes the other day. Suddenly, it hit me. I was just going to recycle this phone book anyway…why not let her color all over it?

“Here! Here is a really cool new coloring book! Look at all the pages! There are numbers! And letters! And funny pictures! And maps! Here are your colors; have at it.” She was thrilled.

We’d both discovered 1,056 pages of non-stop fun, and we found a way to enjoy something that was going to be recycled anyway.

So, it’s Earth Day! Find a way to reduce, reuse or recycle. Green isn’t such a bad color, after all.